


thursday's child has far to go

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: this could be good (love is patient, love is kind) [25]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers S.P.D.
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bisexual Male Character, Bitterness, Character Study, F/M, Found Family, Homelessness, I am not a fan of Cruger, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jack-Centric, Love, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Team as Family, Trust Issues, Yellow Rangers, and apparently I'm a bit more bitter than I realized, and i have a lot of feelings about him, each S.P.D. member is gonna get their own character focus fic, eventually, in which Jack is far more bitter than he lets people think, let me reiterate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-20 22:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17630786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: Jack doesn't know the meaning of forever. He has learned to accept uncertainties, to realize that very few things have guarantees. But here's the thing: Jack has been built to need guarantees in his life. He doesn’t trust easily, doesn’t put his faith into things without proof. He is the one who reaches out to others to help them, but when it comes to people he lets reach back- the list is very small.The list of things the world guarantees Jack Landors is small, consisting truly of only two things: himself and his abilities. Jack has had to find his own truth, his own forever, has had to learn to trust after his parents became more questions than guarantees.These four people have proved themselves to him plenty of times. Each of them have saved the world by themselves, and the number of times they saved the world as a team numbers the times many past Ranger teams have saved the world. They have sacrificed life and limb to be Rangers, have given everything they have to protecting the world- and for what? What has the world done for them?(B-Squad is far kinder than the world has any right to ask of them.)





	thursday's child has far to go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jillie_chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jillie_chan/gifts).



> Title is from the nursery rhyme "Monday's Child," the lines of which each seem to reflect an S.P.D. Ranger.
> 
>  
> 
> Monday's child is fair of face- all of them, if we're being honest  
> Tuesday's child is full of grace- Syd  
> Wednesday's child is full of woe- Sky  
> Thursday's child has far to go- Jack  
> Friday's child is loving and giving- Bridge  
> Saturday's child works hard for a living- Z

_They left us alone, the kids in the dark_

_To burn out forever or light up a spark_

_We come together, state of the art_

_So let the world sing_

_"What a shame_

_Beautiful scars on critical veins"_

_We'll never surrender- the kids in the dark_

**_-All Time Low,_ ** **Kids in the Dark**

 

When Jack manifests abilities at age eight and gets kicked out of the orphanage and onto the streets, he refuses to give up hope. He refuses to hate what's happening. He refuses to blame his abilities. Instead, he blames the managers of the orphanage and the world around him for refusing to accept what he can't change. He’s not wrong- they are.

He meets Z Delgado, the owner of the purple ink on his arm, at a shelter when he's ten-years-old. She has an oversized green dress on and he's wearing the faded blue-and-pink striped shirt that he got at the last shelter. She's got warm eyes and a kind smile and she's recklessly kind, giving her heart and everything she could possibly own to whoever needs it.

And Jack, at first, doesn't know what to do with her. He doesn't know how to trust like she does, to easily give her heart away. He believes in himself, but he doesn't know how to believe in other people.

But eventually Z wears him down, showing him that there is still good in people, and soon enough they're joined at the hip, surviving the streets of New Tech City together.

(Jack doesn’t remember what it’s like to be loved, what it’s like to have a physical, stable home, and so he doesn’t miss what he never had. When Bridge and Syd offer to take him and Z in, to let them stay in Ocean Bluff or in her family mansion in the suburbs of New Tech City, there’s something about their offers, so sincere and kind, that Jack rejects.

Jack has spent his whole life in an orphanage, trying to help out the little kids and being badgered by the older kids, being unloved and developing extreme trust issues. The idea that there are people out there who will love him for being himself- that's a hard idea to process.

And Z accepts Jack’s reservations and never pushes him to go to Syd and Bridge, to meet them before the usual age. She has her own trust issues that she’s not quite addressing, though not anywhere near as severe as his. Hers stem from a fear that Syd and Bridge will reject her and Jack, no matter how much Bridge and Syd say that they’ll love them.

And Z won’t admit to why she’s scared of them rejecting Jack and her, despite the abilities they all share, but Jack has an idea as to why. After all, having powers isn’t a promise of understanding. Because Z’s Mamá had powers too, and that was the whole reason she hated Z. What guarantee does Z have that Syd and Bridge won’t turn out the same way?

Z gives out her heart like it’s nothing more valuable than a piece of clothing, and Jack knows she’s terrified of people treating it like her parents did.

So on the worst nights, when they can’t even find shelter in a homeless center, Z summons her duplicates and they curl up around her and Jack, forming some semblance of warmth and comfort.

Jack holds Z in his arms and reminds them both that they are loved and that they have people who will always stand by their side.)

-

Jack wakes up one night (after they’ve gotten to S.P.D., after they’ve started their relationship with Bridge and Syd, after Sky’s been welcomed into their relationship), nightmares of his childhood on the streets clinging to his brain. He extracts himself from Syd’s arms, careful not to disturb her, and plods down to the common area, craving some open air. He heads over to the food machine and presses the button to summon him some hot cocoa. Maybe that will settle the bad dreams.

(But how do you settle bad memories, drawn not from the imagination from from past hurts? How do you carve out nightmares linked to trust issues based in experience, not irrational fears?)

“You all good?” a familiar voice says, and Jack blinks, a bit surprised that anyone else is up this late at night. Then he looks up to find Sky leaning against the doorjamb.

“Just thinking,” Jack says, picking up his cocoa and taking a sip.

“About what?” Sky asks.

“The past,” Jack says, “You know, things I’m afraid of.”

Sky lets out a small snort. “I know the feeling.”

Jack studies Sky. It’s been a month since Wootox, and things between them have only gotten closer since the incident. The four of them have been working out many of the intricacies of their relationship, and things have been progressing well. Jack has done his best to include Sky as much as possible, to cuddle and hug and kiss him as often (if not more, to make up for lost time) as Jack does his other Soulmates. And he’s noticed the rest of his Soulmates doing the same thing, and in return he's been rewarded with the tension slowly easing from Sky's shoulders, with Sky smiling more often. And to Jack, there’s nothing better than seeing Sky’s smile and knowing that he’s feeling more comfortable in their relationship.

But the problem still lies. The whole incident still happened. They didn’t notice when Sky was replaced, when an imposter was slipped into the middle of their circle and he was stolen away.

They fucked up, badly, and they apologized, but the underlying problem remains. Jack didn't realize Wootox was Sky because he hasn't spent enough time getting to know him. He spent so long not trusting Sky that even though he's always liked Sky, at least a little, he let a variety of reasons- Sky’s aloofness, their lack of shared Marks, Jack’s trust issues- they never got past the 'friends' stage.

Jack wonders if the only reason why he’s let Sky get so close was because of the Marks on his skin. Jack sometimes wonders if the only reason he’s let Z, Bridge, or Syd get so close is because of the Marks.

Jack doesn't know the meaning of _forever._ He has learned to accept uncertainties, to realize that very few things have guarantees. But here's the thing: Jack has been built to need guarantees in his life. He doesn’t trust easily, doesn’t put his faith into things without proof. He is the one who reaches out to others to help them, but when it comes to people he lets reach back- the list is very small.

Jack didn’t let his guard down around Z for half a year after they met, didn’t sleep alone in a room with her for six months despite the words on their arms. She had to prove to him that she wouldn’t stab him in the back before he let her come close.

Jack didn’t kiss Syd for the first three months, start sleeping in the same bed with Syd until after they went on the birthday stakeout and Syd stood up for R.I.C. The flowery words on their arms were not enough; Syd had to show that there was substance backing up all the sweetness.

And Bridge- Jack didn’t let Bridge touch him without his gloves for far longer than Syd or Z did. Trusting his emotions to an empath was a harrowing idea, and one that he only managed to get over after he saw how Bridge only ever used his abilities to help victims, how his abilities as often hurt him as they helped others. Then Jack started to let Bridge use him as a grounder, to use Jack’s touch as a way to prevent overload.

It takes Jack time to learn to trust people, to learn how to love them instead of being suspicious of them. The words on his arms, the ink gracing his skin- that’s only a small factor in determining whether to open up. The Marks are a suggestion as to the people he should lend his trust to, but no guarantee as to where his faith will end up lying. Seeing them on Sky- that opened up a possibility.

So maybe it wasn’t the lack of Marks that led to the lack of a relationship with Sky- maybe it was Jack’s fear of being vulnerable, of getting hurt.

Sky, after all, is not the first Soulmate Jack’s fucked up with.

“Sky,” Jack says, “I’m sorry.”

He raises a curious eyebrow. “Sorry for what?”

“For taking so long to let you- all of you- in."

Sky nods. "Thanks for the apology," he says, "But to be honest, I understand."

Jack raises an eyebrow. "You do?"

“We all have our issues," Sky says with a nod. "Do you really think that any of us have had an easy time letting each other in? I mean, I know you guys have had each other, and trying to figure out how to work with that is hard and all, but trust me, I get it that trust doesn't come easily for you.”

“That’s far more understanding than I’d be after what happened with Wootox,” Jack admits.

“Trust me, it’s not easy,” Sky says, “Not after everything that happened. But if I’m gonna be part of this relationship, then I’m gonna have to know when to move on, how to forgive you for things that were only partially your fault. I've gotta know that sometimes, you've got some underlying issues that are gonna make it easier to doubt me or overlook the obvious."

“You shouldn’t have to move on,” Jack says, because he knows that he himself wouldn't move on, that there are many things he _hasn't_ moved on from. "Not when we've hurt you so badly."

Sky raises an eyebrow, and for a moment he stares at Jack. Jack tries not to flinch as he feels Sky's gaze examine him in that deep, almost scientific way that Sky usually does. Eventually, Sky speaks: “You’re not very good at this whole trust thing, are you?"

Well, that's a bit blunt, but Jack can't argue with the point made, so he shakes his head. "No, I'm not. Why do you think that I was the last one to join the team?"

Sky steps forward and puts a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Well, Jack Landors,” Sky says, “I want you to stop being such a hardhead and listen to me for once: I trust you. I believe in you. I know you’ve fucked up, but we all have, and you’ve shown that you’ve learned from it. You're a good Soulmate, and if I'm being honest, you’ve been a wonderful Red and a great leader for this team, and there is no one I’d rather lead this team.”

“You sure?” Jack asks, raising an eyebrow in question. The question of being the Red Ranger is the one thing that he thought that Sky would never budge on, the one thing he thought Sky would always resent regardless of where their relationship ended up.

Sky nods, smiling slightly. “Of course I am. The past year's taught me a lot."

Sky’s smile is small and gentle, unlike the neutral expression he usually wears during the day. Here, in the after-hours, in the before-hours, when the world is quiet and tired and nearly everyone is asleep, it doesn’t feel as strange to put Jack’s trust in certain people.

It’s so easy to be gentle with people he doesn’t know, so easy to be rough with criminals. What’s hard is finding a balance with the people he wants to let in, the people he needs to be guarantees.

Jack has to figure out how to act with them, how to love them in the ways they need to be loved, and sometimes it’s so hard. The five of them have not been loved right, have been neglected or abused or disowned, and so they all love in ways that aren't the healthiest in the world.

Z gives her love away so easily, trusting people with her heart within days of meeting them, because she is afraid of people being rejected and unloved like she was.

Bridge craves physical affection like a dying man, but he doesn’t know how to handle too much at a time. Jack has to portion out his contact carefully, recognizing what is too little or too much.

Syd is a prickly one, so easily to misjudge and so sharp when you underestimate her. Loving her is as much studying her as it is kissing her, learning what she actually means beneath that flamboyant exterior.

Sky is uncertainty disguised behind an emotionless exterior that takes so much time to learn how to peel behind. Figuring out how to read him, how to realize when he’s close to breaking, takes lots of time to learn.

And Jack- well, he knows his problems with love, his trust issues that prevent him from loving quickly or easily. He has the opposite of Z's problem.

All five of them are desperate to be loved, to prove the world wrong. They have all been told so many times that there is something wrong with them, that they don’t deserve to be loved or trusted, and it's only together that they learn to love in a way that makes a bit more sense, a way that balances each other out.

They have different needs and different things to offer. Sky and Jack need more verbal and emotional reassurance while Bridge and Z crave more physical affection, and Syd is a bit of both.

"Thank you. I love you, you know," Jack says, and Sky nods, but there's something uncertain in his expression. Jack nearly sighs- they need to get better at showing that they love each other. Jack needs guarantees the most, but he's not the only person looking for proof.

So Jack leans in and kisses Sky, and that's not how you prove you love someone, but it's a good way to at least communicate some idea of love. Sky's hands go to Jack’s waist and Sky kisses back, and for a moment this is Jack’s guarantee. He is here with Sky, and the ink on his arms means something more than anyone’s abandonment ever could. Sky is his, is theirs, and Jack trusts his heart in Sky’s hands.

Someone clears their throat, and Jack breaks away from kissing Sky to see Bridge in the main room, having walked by without them noticing. "Want some toast?" Bridge offers. "I'm making some for me, and I thought you'd like it." He grins. "Don't worry, it's buttery." He waggles his fingers, and Jack smiles.

Yes, they're five broken kids who somehow grew into five not-quite-adjusted adults. Jack parents are dead and he grew up in an orphanage until they kicked him out. Syd doesn’t talk about her family, but from what she _has_ mentioned has let Jack know that her dad’s distant, her father resents her, and brother’s an ass 90% of the time. Sky’s dad’s dead and his mother stopped caring about him years ago. Z’s parents kicked her out of the house and she’s lived on the streets for years. Bridge is the closest to well-adjusted and loved as any of them are going to get, and even he has some issues of his own, like the fact that his father’s dead and that Bridge is severely touch-starved, given the fact that he can’t touch anyone but the four of them without headaches and sensory overload.

None of them ever had a chance at being normal, Jack knows that. None of them had an easy chance at learning how to love.

But here, together, somewhere in between egos and trust issues and miscommunications, they have somehow found the courage needed to love each other. And Jack's pretty amazed by that, because opening up to someone else, allowing them in, giving them the ability to break you- that’s really fucking brave.

"Sure, Bridge," Jack says, finding Sky's hand next to hers and sliding their fingers together. "We'll take some toast."

Bridge's face lights up and Jack can’t help but smile back.

-

Weeks later, Jack and his team are walking down the hallway from one post to the next when they overhear Commander Cruger says to Kat, "I still maintain hope for the A-Squad. Sometimes I wonder if I hadn't sent them off to the Helix Nebula, maybe we'd have defeated Gruumm already."

Jack looks around at his teammates’ expressions, seeing the way hurt flashes across all of their faces, even Sky’s carefully maintained neutrality.

Jack looks for guarantees, for facts and things he can prove, and this is one thing he knows: his team, his friends, his Soulmates, the people he loves- they aren’t the lesser-thans. They aren't failures. The conclusion doesn't follow the facts.

A-Squad came first. They were the best. They were the world's number one line of defense, the heir to the legacy of generations of Power Rangers. They were trained, tested, proven to be the newest superheroes meant to protect the Earth. Their names were glorious, looked up to by every law-abiding citizen in New-Tech city.

B-Squad was never supposed to get that honor. They were never Earth's Mightiest Defenders- they were always lesser-than, the back-ups, the sidekicks, never the heroes. Their entire lives, they've been considered nothing more than second best, the back-up that only gets called in after other options have been exhausted.

But then A-Squad fell, and B-Squad stepped up.

Jack's team has protected the world for a year. They have been the foremost team of Rangers, capturing criminals and fighting Broodwing and staving off Gruumm's attacks. They have balanced relationships and work, figured out how to work out a bond that is strained and frayed, learned to love in a world that does not love them back all while protecting the world. Just a couple of days ago they fought Icthior with broken bones and bruised joints, ending the day tumbling into bed with gasps of pain and heavy does of painkillers all around. They take their duty seriously, giving just as much (if not more) than A-Squad ever did.

And yet- and yet some people say that they do not deserve to be called Power Rangers, to join the ranks of the world's mightiest defenders. Even Cruger now doubts them.

The list of things the world guarantees Jack Landors is small, consisting truly of only two things: himself and his abilities. Jack has had to find his own truth, his own forever, has had to learn to trust after his parents became more questions than guarantees.

These four people have proved themselves to him plenty of times. Each of them have saved the world by themselves, and the number of times they saved the world as a team numbers the times many past Ranger teams have saved the world. They have sacrificed life and limb to be Rangers, have given everything they have to protecting the world- and for what? What has the world done for them?

Even now, they are still carrying the aches from fighting Icthior in order to protect Commander Cruger. Jack didn't even end up in the infirmary like Sky, Syd, and Bridge did, and he still feels a bit worse after that fight. He can only imagine how badly his Soulmates are still aching.

They faced down Icthior without regard to their own bruises, their broken bones, because they wanted to protect the world. And why? They are all far kinder than the world has any right to ask of them. To doubt them, to say that they aren't the best Rangers that they can possibly be, is false. They, like all other Rangers before them, have faced down world destruction and refused to yield.

Jack has no idea how the Commander could possibly still be comparing B-Squad unfavorably to A-Squad, but he knows that the Commander is wrong.

That night finds Jack back in the main room, unable to sleep, but this time all four of his Soulmates end up there as well.

His four Soulmates are full of doubt, feeling unworthy of their positions, but Jack has spent enough time blaming himself. He knows they deserve their role as Rangers. They have proven their worth. They are more than what Cruger thinks they are.  They have fucked up, sure, but at the end of the day every team of Power Rangers has, even A-Squad in their early days. They have done their duty, and they have done it well.

And Jack isn’t about to let his Soulmates doubt what they’ve done.

"Guys," Jack says, gaze sharp, "Not one of us are to blame for Gruumm still being out there. We've been the lone Ranger team protecting the earth for a year now. We've kept Gruumm from invading and we've protected earth from a whole host of lesser threats in the meantime. And yeah, A-Squad used to be the best, but now that's us. All of us have contributed to saving the world. Sky, first off, you are the absolute best second-in-command I could ask for. Your attention to detail and extensive knowledge of Ranger history has led to a number of successful cases. Bridge, your logic and way of thinking, as well as your aura-reading ability, has led to numerous successful arrests that wouldn't have happened otherwise. Z, your selflessness and heart have led us to save Sam and have also brought us together plenty of times. Syd, your stubbornness and quick thinking, not to mention your fighting skill, has saved our asses on a number of occasions." He swallows, his words petering out a bit. "And I, well-"

"You've been a great leader, Jack," Sky says, and the others nod. "You're stubborn as all hell, but you're a good field commander and an honest guy. You're always looking to do the best thing for the most people, and your actions on the field have led us to a number of wins."

Jack nods. "Thanks, Sky. So see? So we're a team, and we're a pretty damn great one. What Cruger said- he's wrong. B-Squad is the best team on the planet right now."

"Not to get a big head or anything," Z says with a small smirk, and Jack shrugs. He knows they deserve to counted among the legacy of Power Rangers- saying it aloud may sound like bragging, but he doesn't think it does. If just laying claim to their own place as Rangers sounds like he's being pretentious, then maybe it's the world that needs to reevaluate how it perceives B-Squad.

"Of course not," Syd scoffs, and when Jack looks to her he sees that she's smiling proudly at him. "Jack's got a point. We _are_ Rangers, and we have protected the world for the past year. We've done as good of a job as A-Squad did, and we've had the position for actually longer than the current A-Squad had theirs. Gruumm doesn't stand a chance against us, once we figure out how to take care of him."

"But speaking of Gruumm- there still is the question of why he's still here," Bridge says, standing up and beginning to pace. "You know, why he didn't just destroy Earth like he did in Alandia."

"You're right," Sky says, "If Gruumm can destory Earth from orbit, why doesn't he? Why have we even had the chance to take down so many of his generals?"

"Well," Jack says, "He must need something."

"But what?" Syd asks, "He already has millions of dollars worth of diamonds."

"But wait a minute, guys," Bridge says, "Gruumm tried to steal all that gold, remember?"

"Gruumm must be trying to build something," Z says, "Like a new ship?"

"Out of gold?" Sky questions, eyebrow raised. "It's way too soft a metal."

Bridge's eyes go wide and he stops pacing. "But not if he added that iridium that he stole. Iridium can be used to harden all metals."

"Okay," Z says, "So Gruumm is looting the earth of our resources to build either a ship or a giant weapon."

"A weapon of that magnitude would need radioactive material to drive the reactor," Sky points out.

"What if Gruumm got a piece of that meteor that Jack blew up?" Bridge asks, and Jack sits forward. Bridge has a serious point. "The radiation would be more than enough.

"So Gruumm has everything he needs to build, well, whatever he's building," Syd says, and then it hits Jack.

"Except a synthesizing agent to pull it all together," he says, standing up.

Then, in unison, his entire team finishes his sentence: "Hemotec plasma!"

Jack couldn't be prouder that his team- brilliant, beautiful, and underestimated- figured this out. They're all incredibly talented on their own, but when they come together, they show the world why they were wrong to look down on them.

So in the end, they've solved the issue of what Gruumm is looking for and Cruger, minutes later, admits how important Jack’s team is, as is right.

Then the five of them collapse back onto the girls' beds together afterward and Jack holds his Soulmates close, watching as one by one they all fall away into sleep, far more relaxed than they have been throughout the day.

Bridge is last, laying closest to Jack on his right side. “Thanks, Jack,” Bridge whispers into Jack’s throat, voice slow with exhaustion. “I think we really needed that.”

Jack turns his head and presses a kiss into Bridge’s hair. Bridge snuggles in closer to Jack, and Jack can feel Bridge’s bare hand pressed against Jack’s forearm. Bridge’s palm is softer than most people’s, due to being kept in a glove for nearly all of his life, and a bit warmer than most, providing an almost heating pad for Jack to sleep against. Jack knows that, in turn, he provides a grounder for Bridge's powers, a way to keep Bridge's mind from floating off when he's asleep.

“My pleasure,” Jack says with a small smile and he closes his eyes, listening as Bridge’s breath levels out into sleep.

Jack will be his Soulmates’ guarantee. He will be there for them like they are for him, be there for all the times the world isn't. They don’t need anyone beyond the family they create for themselves.

 

_Ultimately, the universe doesn't care about us._

_Time doesn't care about us._

_That's why we have to care about each other._

**_-David Levithan_**

**Author's Note:**

> So I was rewatching the S.W.A.T. arc and the Insomnia episode and I just got all the emotions and now I've returned to this series because fuck it, these children still own my heart.
> 
> The S.W.A.T. arc should be covered in another fic, and that will be my Z-centric fic, and after that hopefully my Bridge-centric one. But for now, I hope you all enjoyed my Jack-centric one!
> 
>  
> 
> (Also I have been waiting since my first S.P.D. fic to use those song lyrics in a fic, and I finally did.)


End file.
